On Sunday (December 26) The Inquirer reported that – In questioning the superintendent of a rural school district, a lawyer for Senate President Pro Tempore Jake Corman repeatedly asked why the state’s academic standards mattered for students entering certain professions.
“What use would a carpenter have for biology?” asked John Krill of Matthew Splain, superintendent of the Otto-Eldred School District in McKean County and president of the board of directors of the Pennsylvania Association of Rural and Small Schools, one of the plaintiffs. Splain had said his district’s scores on state standardized tests in biology and other subjects were not acceptable.
Krill also asked, “What use would someone on the McDonald’s career track have for Algebra 1?”
Krill’s questioning of whether or not it is beneficial for the government to squander tax-payer funded money to teach advanced educational concepts to certain elements of society – who presumably would not benefit from that sort of learning, came during the ongoing landmark school funding case that is currently being tried in Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court.
As a carpenter, I think that Krill’s question is ignorant, and self-revealing. And it smacks of elitist class prejudice, something that is common among folks who share his political affiliation.